Engel



M. ENGEL.

Bee Hive.

Patented April 15, 1840.

MARTIN ENGEL. 0F EASTQN; PENNSYLVANIA.

BEIEI-IIVE.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 1,555, dated. April 15,- 1840.

To all whom it may] concern.

Be it known that I, MARTIN ENGEI}, of the borough of Easton, inthe Stateof Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in the hIanner of Constructing Beehives, which improved hives I denominate thebee-palace"; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full andexact description thereof. 7 g

In the accompanying drawi-ngs- Figure 1, is a perspective view of thehive, in the formin which I ordinarily make it. Fig. 2, is a front Viewof the body of the hive, the exterior case being opened, or removed, forthe purposeof sl iowing the interior. Fig.- 4 is a vertical section ofthe hive from front to -back.

The dimensions of this" hive may be varie'd but those which I shall giveI consider as furnishing a good ordinary size.

The body 01% the hive I make two feet eight inches wide, and two feettour inches high, andone foot six inches deep from front to back. Thisbody issupported at the corners by the columns or legs a, a, Fig. 1.

I divide my hive, lengthwise; into two compartments by means of" apartition extending from top to bottom, and front to rear. Thispartition is seen edgewise at A, A Fig. 2, and flatwise at A A, Fig. 4.The lower portion of it, A, is solid, the upper part is perforated so asto constitute a grating B, B, with vertical bars, between which the beesmay pass freely from one compartment to the other, when it is desiredthat they should do so; but when the numbers are small, and it isdesirable to con; fine them to one compartment, these grate bars may becovered by sheets of iron or of tin plate which are shown, and markedFig. 12. These plates are used also to cut, or separate the comb when itis desired to remove the honey from one of the divisions of the hive, ofwhich there are several.

Each of the compartments formed by the partition A, A, is divided intothree chambers by means'of horizontal sliding shelves, formed as chosenin Fig. 3. These shelves have gratings formed of bars which may be halfan inch wide, and the same distance apart, leaving openings similarv tothose in the vertical partition A A. From the frame 6, b, of theseshelves rise vertical rods or building sticks, of wood a, a, which comenearly into contact with the shelf or floor above them they are abouteight inches long, and serve the purpose of building sticks to supportthe comb and for the bees to pass up. These shelves slide in and outupon ledges or cleats, marked Z7, Z2, Fig. 2, and they extend fromfrontto back of each compartment. Thelower chamber, beneath the lowersliding shelves, has an inclined bottom, as shown at 71', Fig. 1, uponwhich there is a frame c, which supports vertical rods' or climbing andbuilding sticks 0, 0, similar to those on the shelves a',a, Fig. 2;these sticks rise to within about an eighth of inch o'fthelower' slidingshelves; The" in'clined bottom 5, is about eighteen inches wide itslower edge extends to within three or tour inches of" the back of thehive, where it comes nearly into contact with a second inclined ortraveling plane d, which is about nine inches wide, andstands like theformer the whole widthof the hive. Between the upper side of the planeand the edge of the plane, 6,..therc i'san aperture of about an inch forthe passage of' the bees; Upon the u per side oftheinclined plane Iaffix a narrow strip 9, the edge of which comes within half an inc'l'rof the upper side of the plane" 5, by which means an abrupt change ismade-in the direction of the en=- trance, obliging the bees or otherinsects to turn about in entering, and thus affording a decidedadvantage to the inmates of the hive in attacking intruders.

For the purpose of closing the entrance aperture at night, when it maybe thought desirable to protect the bees, I place a sliding strip orshutter 2', which may be made to cover the opening or entrance, betweenthe inclined planes.

In Fig. 1, o, 0, are doors, which may be either hinged or made to slideas preferred, these doors cover panes of glass '0. On the opposite sideof the hive there are alsopanes of glass which are covered by hinged orsliding doors; these afiord a view of the interior when required, andaccess thereto may be obtained by making the glass removable. There areopenings at each end of the hive, as at (Z, d, Fig. 1, which are closedby shutters, giving the means of ventilation when said shutters areremoved.

1 Having thus described the manner in which I construct and arrange thebody or lower part of my hive, I now proceed to describe the upperstories, or parts above the body, which, however, may be varied in formbut that given I have essayed, and" found toianswer .Well in practice.The main floor, or dividing platform, 'between the body of the hive andthe upper'storiesa as shown in Fig. 6; the dotted lines 9, 9, representthe upper edge of the body, to which the floor is to'be secured; theedges of this floor are seen atfih, h,Fig. 1,'and at eye, Fig. 2,likewise e, c, Fig. 1. It is three feet two inches "long, and two testtwo inches widegAt 0,0, Fig. 6, the floor is nine inches shorter than atits sides, for the purposeof constituting sheltered recesses at the endsof the hive, as seen'in Fig. 1. 'The middle part of this floor isprovided with grate bars, a, a, the openings between which allow. the

. bees to ascend fromihe two compartments.

in thebody, into that shown at g, Fig. 1. Two sliding boxes or drawershaving neither tops nor bottoms,"occupy theicompartment 9, one beingslid at either end of the hivefas at g, Fig.1. These two'drawers meet atthe middle of the compartments, and their outer ends f Fig.9 areto beglazed to admit of inspecting the interior;

these it drawers are comtained between two upright partitions marked 6'6, Figs. 6. and 4;; and there are, outside of these, cross partitions e,.e, e, whichdivide each of the gablespaces 'f, f, igs.1 1, and 2,intofour or any other convenient number of com-.'

partments, each of which contains a box filling said spaces. Fig.- 10,shows the end holes the bees have access to them, for build- I ingtheir. combs; theyrare seen inplace at f, f, Fig. 2. Above thecompartment 9, F gs. 1, and i; there is anothergmarke-d 7a, whichcontains ftWQ, boxes without bottoms seen at h, h, Fig. 2, and in end'viewyat Fig. 11,

furnished with astrip of glass at a. F ig. 7,

is the floor of these compartments, having 'grates'at a, 06,.ThisfloorjIprefer to make of thick plank forthe purpose of obtaining'rounded eave,as shown at an, Fi 1 2 311614;; 1 i

Havingithus fully described the manner in which I construct mybeehive orbee palace, itis to be understoodthat I have included 'in said"description many things which'I dognot claim as new, an'dlto theparticular-form and manner of constructing which I do notintend tolimitmyself 5' but What Ido claim as my invention and deabrupt turn asshownin the drawings.

2. I claim incombination with said en-' trance, the closing slide z,shown in Fig.4.

3. Iclaimaljso themanner of constructing and usingthe sliding frames,Fig. 3, with their vertical rods, climbing, or building sticks and alsothe constructing of theihorizontal grates in the manner and. for the.

purposeset forth. a a i [MARTIN ENGEL.

.Witnesses: i i a 1 GEO. BUs V G110. SIGMAN,

